Tae Yoon: Life from 2006-2021

i've been looking for work for a while now and haven't had any luck in seoul.

i've been applying to places here and there and then i get an email response this morning that stated they're looking for "CAUCASIAN CANDIDATES" only.

i was born in nyc, studied non-fiction writing in college and have extensive work experience in the field of editing and writing---yet, these places would rather hire "caucasians" that might possibly be professionally under-qualified with no work experience whatsoever but their korean clients will think "ohh, white people! this is where i want my child to study!"

isn't that a trip? i think it's pretty funny but i guess it's just the reality of how things work here.

it's interesting how being korean-american in the states, there's a lot of baggage that sometimes comes with being a minority and not feeling accepted in certain circumstances. then i come to korea and people tell me "you're korean! you should know how to speak and write better, you need to study more!" nyc is really the only place i will ever feel like i truly fit in and can be myself. the absurdity in the disparaging statements i've gotten in korea insinuating i'm not korean enough or am not up to par on culture makes me laugh so much in the inside, and i never take it to heart whenever it's directed towards me. trust me, i want to learn a lot more and i know there's room for vast improvement in my "korean-ness" (or whatever that means), but i think i've done pretty okay for myself in learning about korean stuff back in the states and if people don't understand why their statements are ridiculous, there's nothing i really want to do about it.

it's not my job or place to educate those who can't learn basic things about life and human-beings on their own.